Tungsten

Formed in 1985,
Tungsten hail from
Crowbar territory (Louisiana),
and that band
is a decent starting reference for describing Tungsten's early sound.
On albums such as 193.85* and *74 the classic NOLA trademarks
of hardcore vocals and slow, sludgy guitar riffs are in evidence,
Tungsten thus being a prime NOLA band.
By the time of their third album,
The Tungsten Survival Kit, the band had diversified a bit,
showing a bit
more depth and maturity in the songwriting while retaining the
brute heaviness of the earlier albums.

Six years after Survival Kit, Tungsten released their fourth
album, The Abuse.
In an interesting move, the band themselves made all of
the album
tracks downloadable from their web site, as a response to all
the press about downloading music.
The style on The Abuse is different than their past material,
as much of the anger is gone, replaced with a more rock feel
and more introspective lyrics.
They are still a heavy band, and even more diverse than before,
but now play a melancholic, mid-paced hard-edged metal, with
Al Hodge now singing in a clean style, which fits their current
music much better.
The Abuse is a pretty original-sounding album, and a welcome
diversion from the multitude of bands that stick to a rigid
formula.
Tungsten is playing music on their own terms.